Recently, Chinese governmental institutions, including the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, issued the “Key Points of Digital Rural Development in 2022” by outlining an avant-garde incentive of expanding the 5G coverage to rural villages in China.
The plan (Link in Chinese) encourages the empowerment of information technology in rural regions to accelerate the construction of a digital economic system, further leading to the revitalization of rural industries in China. It outlines that by the end of 2022, the construction of digital countryside will make significant progress. The rural industries can leverage digital technologies to support agricultural fundamentals and eradicate poverty issues.
As the construction of rural digital infrastructure is expected to advance, the 5G network will eventually achieve fair coverage in key towns and some key administrative villages. In the meantime, the Internet penetration rate in rural areas will exceed 60% as the development of the rural digital economy accelerated. Furthermore, the level of agricultural production will steadily improve, and the e-commerce network retail sales of agricultural products exceeded CNY 430 billion.
The guideline also listed that rural regions should implement a digital governance system, as well as encourage the development of pilot construction in making digital villages a next-step goal. This guideline also highlighted the smart village management by improving the digital level of rural governance and promoting intelligent emergency management during the unprecedented period of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic in these regions.
There are two fundamental integrations underpinned by this national statement, with one placing focusing on digitalized education and the other on the healthcare of the same nature. To boost employment and entrepreneurship in the rural regions, China is in full print of encouraging new consumption habits.